A drilling apparatus is comprised of a column of drill pipes with a drill bit attached. In a drilling operation, the column of drill pipes is rotated to cut a bore hole into the earth, which generates cuttings. To remove cuttings and form a cleared bore hole, a drilling fluid or mud is circulated down a drill pipe, exits at the bit, and is circulated up the bore hole in the annulus between the outside of the drill string and the wall of the bore hole. This circulation of the drilling mud removes cuttings made by the bit from the bottom of the hole and lifts them to the surface for disposal. A water-based drilling mud includes water as the continuous phase as well as other material(s) in the dispersed phase.